


Merry Christmas Logan Echolls!

by Lymelight



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:10:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lymelight/pseuds/Lymelight
Summary: What if Logan decided to ignore polite society's rules for break ups in order to have one happy Christmas memory!





	Merry Christmas Logan Echolls!

**Author's Note:**

> Totally did this last minute so I assure you it is riddled with terrible grammar that I hope you'll excuse. Also all mistakes are all I own.

This was a bad idea. Yes, _technically_ he had been invited and _technically_ he hadn’t been uninvited but he was pretty sure that was because it is typically assumed that when one person breaks up with another, all invites to family functions from the dumpee are automatically rescinded without verbal confirmation needed. Yet, just under one month after breaking up with Veronica, Logan stood outside of the Mars’ household on Christmas Day.

 

Before the break up, when Veronica had found out that Logan’s Thanksgiving had consisted of video games and room service turkey sandwiches with Dick, she had taken pity on her orphan boyfriend and immediately obtained an invitation for him to the annual Mars’ family Christmas celebration. He had been so excited about the prospect of spending the holiday with an actual family, he immediately started planning Christmas presents. Then, about a week later, he watched Veronica ignore his call and tried to salvage as much of his heart as he could, by breaking up with her.

 

However, the prospect of spending a REAL Christmas with a REAL family and not just the Vanity Fair approximation preferred by his parents, was too good of an opportunity to miss. She could turn him away if she wanted to but at least he had tried.

 

_Knock, knock_

 

To say that Logan Echolls was not the first person Veronica expected when she opened the door would be an understatement. Though to be fair with the ridiculously long list of enemies and the much smaller list of friends the Mars’ family possessed she wasn’t really sure who else she was expecting.

 

“Hey, so I was kind of hoping my invite was still good…”

 

Veronica sighed and crossed her arms, “You broke up with me Logan.”

 

“I know but it’s Christmas.” He looked so pathetic standing in front of her with his bag full of presents. She thought back to how pitiful his Thanksgiving had sounded and how ridiculous the annual Echolls’ Family Christmas had been and well it _was_ Christmas.

 

“Come on in then,” she moved to the side of the doorway to let him in as she gestured inside. The huge grin that broke out on his face was almost comical as he hurried in. He looked, well, like a kid on Christmas and it was infectious. Veronica couldn’t help but smile herself as he passed. 

 

“We’ve got one more for dinner Dad!” Veronica called as she closed the door.

 

Keith was less surprised to see that particular boy standing in his living room. Logan had flitted in and out of Veronica’s life enough for Keith to be sure he would never really be out of it. As much as she had tried to hide it, Keith knew how much that breakup had hurt Veronica and having heard about a certain arrest that was made after Mercer and Moe were placed in jail, he knew that Logan hadn’t broken his daughter’s heart because he was indifferent towards her.

 

Keith and Veronica had been putting the final touches on Christmas dinner when Logan had knocked on their door. After Veronica let him in they went back to their little kitchen. Logan asked if he could help, though the small kitchen looked crowded, especially with the third member of the Mars’ clan always underfoot hoping for scraps.

 

“No, why don’t you take Back-up out for a walk instead? We don’t need either of you being liabilities to our perfect feast.” Veronica told him after tripping over the dog for the tenth time. “You need years of experience before you are trusted with the Mars’ family secret recipes anyway.”

 

Logan chuckled and agreed to the chore. He figured he was probably better off spending time with the one member of the family he was sure still liked him. “How long do you need us out?”

 

When Logan returned half an hour later, Veronica was nowhere to be seen and Keith was still putting the finishing touches on a salad. Logan decided to keep himself out of the way and went to put his presents under the tree. After he had carefully placed his gifts he stood up to admire the tree itself. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself at the various ornaments decorating the tree. They seemed to mostly fit into two categories, handmade, by Veronica most likely, or kitschy Padres ones. Lynn would never have allowed either on any of her immaculately decorated Christmas trees put out for guests to view during the annual extravaganza. She had kept a small tabletop tree in her bedroom that held Logan’s yearly Christmas crafts from school and a few from Veronica led craft nights at the Kane mansion, but to allow any guests to see anything of the sort would have been a capital sin.

 

Logan smiled as he imagined Veronica and her father placing the various ornaments on the tree. He imagined that Veronica probably pretended to cringe at her previous self but he figured she had probably added most of the hand crafted pieces to the tree. Keith was probably responsible for making sure that the Padres paraphernalia were evenly distributed throughout the entire tree.

 

While admiring some of the heavier ornaments on the bottom boughs, he noticed Veronica underneath the tree fiddling with one of the boxes. “Trying to figure out what Santa brought you?”

 

She immediately jumped up guiltily from her position below the tree once she had been caught, “Gotta make sure the big guy got my list. You know how good I’ve been.”

 

“Is that what we are calling good these days? Even I may make that list.”

 

“Speaking of potential naughty list names, where is your typical holiday partner?”

 

“Skiing in Aspen, I was invited but I was hoping I had better options.”

 

Veronica smiled at Logan, glad to be able to keep up a friendly conversation with him after all they’d been through.

 

“Dinner time, let the Christmas feasting begin!” Keith said as he called them over to the dining area.

 

“Now I know lasagna isn’t the typical Christmas fare but it is a tradition in this household and with the Mars’ family secret recipe, it always brings double the joy!” Keith informed Logan as he placed the finished dish on the counter.

 

“I assure you I wouldn’t know anything about typical Christmas dinners anyway. It’s just nice to have something homemade.” Echolls’ Christmas dinners hadn’t been quite as elaborate as the events that lead up to the day but it was always catered and usually involved some sort of film executive that Aaron was trying to flatter. It also was almost always preceded by Logan getting punished for not being properly thankful for his gifts. 

 

An awkward silence fell over the apartment. It was obvious Keith and Veronica were thinking about the few details Logan had been forced to share on Larry King to beat his fake brother to the story and Logan kicked himself for accidentally bringing it up.

 

“Well, I’m not sure that you can call our Christmas very traditional but it’s definitely merry and bright!” Veronica replied a few seconds later with a smile on her face that matched her words.

 

When they had all finished healthy portions of lasagne, salad and snickerdoodles, they moved over to the living area of the apartment. Unsurprisingly Veronica was the first to suggest that they dive into the presents.

 

Logan located Back-up and snuggled in with the dog. He figured he hadn’t been expected so there was nothing under the tree for him and it would be less awkward watching Veronica and Keith open presents if his hands were full petting the dog.That was until Veronica handed him a box.

 

“For me?” He looked shocked at the gift in her hands. He realized it was the one he had caught her fooling with earlier.

 

Veronica smiled, “Of course!”

 

Logan unwrapped the present and opened up the box inside. He couldn’t help the laugh that started when he saw the first item on top. Duncan’s old argyle sweater, the same one Duncan had given him when his house first burned down and Veronica had given Piz when all of his stuff was stolen. He looked through the rest of the box and discovered it contained all of the clothes Duncan had left behind and a few of the shirts she had pilfered from his own closet during their time together. Though he did notice that there was at least one t-shirt of his still missing.

 

“Thank you.” Logan looked up at Veronica, where she was still standing before him, to try to make sure she understood the sincerity behind his words. He was truly grateful she had put together the last minute present so he would having something to unwrap.

 

“You’re welcome, now it’s my turn!” She jumped under the tree to pounce on one of the presents Logan had brought. When Logan noticed which present she had grabbed, his face started to flush. She quickly unwrapped the oddly shaped object. As soon as she had recognized the creature her eyes widened and she looked over at Logan. To his credit, Logan did look sheepish over on the chair and replied to her unasked question, “I bought it when we were dating. I thought it would be weird to keep it.”

 

“More weird than to give it to me?”

 

“At the time, yes, now I’m thinking I might have been wrong about that.”

 

Keith couldn’t quite understand what the fuss was about the bobcat paperweight. It didn’t look that expense and it wasn’t as if Veronica was without her share of trinkets on her desk at work or at home. Whatever it was he could tell the kids were still distracted by the strange situation and took it upon himself to break up the moment.

 

“Ok then I think it’s fair to say it’s my turn!” Keith grabbed the first thing he saw with his name on it, a white envelope with Logan’s neat scrawl on top. Though still locked in an awkward starring contest with Veronica, Logan noticed Keith opening the envelope from the corner of his eyes and turned to give him his attention. Inside was a brochure and ticket to a weeklong Padres’ fantasy camp. Keith looked up at the boy shocked by the expensive gift.

 

“Veronica had wanted to get that for you junior year but after my family’s Christmas debacle she hadn’t been able to get the money together, so I figured I kind of owed both of you.” Logan tried to explain. Keith wasn’t quite sure what Aaron getting stabbed had to do with Veronica’s ability to buy him a Christmas present but it was clear his daughter knew exactly what Logan was talking about it. It was also clear she wasn’t happy with his explanation.

 

“Logan you are not responsible for a single thing Aaron ever did. You know that right?”

 

Logan shrugged. In theory he understood that his father’s actions were not a reflection on himself but he didn’t know if he would ever not feel like he had to do what little he could to make up for all of Aaron’s misdeeds. After all when a man dies with debt, it is the responsibility of the his family to pay, why should all of Aaron’s debts to society be any different?

 

Veronica grabbed Logan’s hands and forced him to look her in the eye. “You have to know that my father and I do not blame you for anything that happened with Aaron. Okay?” Logan starred at her for a second and then looked towards Keith for confirmation. The man looked at him seriously and nodded in agreement with his daughter’s statement. Logan couldn’t believe either of them really felt that way.

 

“Maybe it’s time we opened up something for Back-up.” Logan suggested, “I think that way we’ll avoid any potential emotional landmines.” Veronica and Keith laughed and agreed with Logan’s plan.

 

The rest of the gift giving went by without any more emotional turmoil. Besides the box of old clothes, Logan had received a Padres ornament of his very own and a pair of fuzzy pink socks. His suspicions about the original intended recipients of his presents only made them more special in his eyes because they showed how hard Keith and Veronica were trying to include him in their celebrations.

 

After the last gift was opened, a special Mars Investigation chew toy for the agency’s favorite enforcer, Logan offered to clean up in the kitchen since he was the only one who hadn’t helped to prepare the meal.Veronica offered to aid him since it was the majority of the clean up while Keith picked up the wrapping paper and garbage in the living area.

 

Keith snuck a glance at Logan and Veronica working together. They seemed to be smiling and laughing a lot like the old friends they used to be rather than the exes they were. He was glad to see his daughter so happy, as much as he hated to admit it, there seemed to be something about Logan Echolls that had always made Veronica smile, except when it had broken her heart into itty bitty pieces. He wasn’t glad for it but he understood. As he finished throwing away the last of the garbage he realized he might be able to give the two of them one last gift.

 

Veronica and Logan had been joking and laughing about some of the odd gift choices as they cleared the counter.

 

“I’ve gotta be honest with you Mars’ the musical sweater stops here. I’m not giving that argyle up again so you better warn Piz he will never get the honor again.”

 

“I’m sure he’ll be heartbroken. Really it’s Wallace you have to watch out for, he’s the one who never even got to try it on.”

 

“And it seems just his style too!”Logan exclaimed as he twirled into the kitchen area and placed his dishes in the sink.

 

Keith left the apartment to throw out the trash and Veronica immediately took the opportunity to yell at Logan.

“Really a bobcat! In front of my dad!” She hit his arm to punctuate her statement.

 

“First off ow,” Veronica scoffed at Logan’s faked injury, “second of all, it’s not like he would get the reference. I thought it would be kind of funny. Plus I figured you wouldn’t be able to help but think of me every time you saw it on your desk,” Veronica raised her eyebrows at his confession, “ok so maybe I was thinking you would think of me and specifically the things I do to make you earn that nickname, and then call me up for a repeat performance but still.”

 

Veronica laughed at Logan’s antics, “and despite that plan you still wanted to give it to me now?”

 

“What if I had kept it and you came by and saw it wouldn’t that have been weirder.”

 

Veronica had no reply, she simply rolled her eyes and dug into the baked on grease she was cleaning off the lasagne pan.

 

When Keith came back in a little later they were chatting about classes and the upcoming semester. Keith went back to his bedroom to put on the new sheets Veronica had bought him. He stopped to affix something on the top shelf by the refrigerator but Logan and Veronica were too caught up in their conversation to notice.

 

After they had finished cleaning up Logan looked at Veronica, “Well I guess it’s time I go, thank you Veronica.”

 

Not quite ready for the night to end, Veronica said, “You can’t leave yet, you haven’t really gotten the full Christmas experience until you watch “A Year without a Santa Claus” with us.”

 

“Well I wouldn’t want to miss out on the full experience,” Logan grinned.

 

Veronica cheerily grabbed his hand and went to lead him out of the small kitchen, when Logan stopped.Veronica turned back to question him, he simply pointed up. Veronica looked confused at the small sprig that seemed to have magically appeared above them. She was sure that it hadn’t been there before. In fact she was pretty sure that same twig had rested at the bottom of the box of Christmas decorations since Lianne had left. It hadn’t made any sense to put it up when it was just Keith and Veronica, it seemed like it would’ve been just a little weird.

 

She looked at Logan and was just about to open her mouth to verbalize her confusion when Logan swooped in for a kiss. He gave her a simple peck on the lips and immediately straightened embarrassed by his rash decision. Veronica starred at him for a second before pulling him back down. They continued to kiss beneath the mistletoe until they heard Keith make his way back into the room.They turned towards him slightly embarrassed. Keith smiled at the couple and simply said, “Merry Christmas.”

 

Veronica turned back towards Logan and smiled up at him, “Merry Christmas.” Logan beamed back at her.

 

“Merry Christmas.”

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt 30. Logan finally gets to enjoy a Christmas during S3! He gets to spend the holidays with Veronica and not be alone like during S1 and S2. Veronica has to spend Christmas with him and they end up having a really great time.   
> From the VM HQ grab bag! Thank you to Marshmallow Bobcat who let me steal the idea of a bobcat paperweight, I couldn't stop laughing at Logan giving it to V in front of her dad!


End file.
